Battlefield Site of the Red Army’s Forced Crossing at Chang’an Ferry

Battlefield Site of the Red Army’s Forced Crossing at Chang’an Ferry

The Battlefield Site of the Red Army’s Forced Crossing at Chang’an Ferry is located at Chang’an Ferry in Chengdong Township, Sanyuan District.

To support and coordinate with the Fifth Counter-Encirclement Campaign of the Central Soviet Area, on May 27, 1934, the Red 7th Army Corps moved from Ninghua and Mingxi to Chang’an, Baisha, and Liexi in Sanyuan County. By that time, the opposite areas of Chengguan and Xiayang were already guarded by two battalions of the Nationalist 80th Division and militia forces. The 19th Division of the Red 7th Army Corps and the local party branch extensively mobilized the masses and gathered information about the area. They decided to gather over 40 boats and enlist the help of dozens of boatmen to launch a four-pronged attack from Liexi, Wengdun, Baisha, and Chang’an (now the train station). They stormed the enemy defending the east bank of Shaxi at Liédōng, forcibly crossed the river at Sanyuan City and Chang’an Ferry. This was a crucial battle in the Red Army’s forced crossing of the Shaxi River. After fierce fighting, the Red Army captured the opposite bank and eliminated two enemy battalions and the militia. On the afternoon of the day they forced the crossing at Chang’an Ferry, at Taibao Temple south of Chengguan in Sanyuan City, they distributed confiscated goods such as cloth taken from local landlords and despots to poor peasants.

This forced crossing of the Shaxi River was a major victory for the Red Army of the Central Soviet Area on the eastern front during the Fifth Counter-Encirclement Campaign. The official newspaper of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, Red China, reported: “Two battalions (one artillery battalion and one engineering battalion) were completely annihilated by us, with approximately three to four hundred rifles seized, five light machine guns, over 90,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 300 enemy officers above the rank of company commander captured. Enemy casualties and those drowned in the river exceeded 300, with the remaining forces fleeing toward Sha County.”

Chang’an Ferry connects Chengguan in the east and Chang’an in the west. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, Chengguan Chang’an Ferry has been one of the ancient ferry crossings of Chengguan in Sanyuan.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Sanming Municipal Committee

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